Aneth Man Found Guilty on all Counts of Child Sex Crimes

ST. GEORGE, Utah - A federal jury in St. George returned a guilty verdict Friday, April 17, 2026, against a San Juan County, Utah, man after he received and possessed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while already on supervised release for a 2015 conviction of possession of child pornography.

Johnston Blackhorse, 42, of Aneth, Utah, was charged by indictment on February 10, 2026, with receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in February 2025, while serving a lifetime of supervised release for prior child sex crimes, two probation officers conducted a home visit where Blackhorse lived alone. Pursuant to Blackhorse's supervised release conditions, the officers conducted an examination of Blackhorse's computer. Officers discovered that a forensic wiping program had been installed and used on the computer the day of the probation visit. Officers conducted a more thorough examination of the computer and located several files depicting child sexual abuse material in a deleted space. As a result, a search warrant was secured, and the computer was examined by a forensic examiner with Homeland Security Investigations. The examination revealed six images of child sexual abuse material all in a deleted space on the computer. An original file path also showed the file originally existed under Blackhorse's username, in his Mozilla Firefox folders, and came from child pornography websites. Additional evidence also showed Blackhorse used the computer to access other child pornography files located on a separate electronic storage device that was not recovered during the search of his residence.

Blackhorse's sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 18, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. before a U.S. District Court Judge in courtroom 2B at the courthouse located at 206 West Tabernacle Street, St. George, Utah 84470.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah made the announcement.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Burton and Joseph M. Hood of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.